1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, such as a film video player, for reproducing still images, and more particularly, it relates to an apparatus for taking original still images and reproducing the taken still images.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has recently been proposed an apparatus for reproducing still images, such as still images of a developed film, on a television or the like. In such an apparatus, original still images are taken by a pickup element such as an area sensor or a line sensor and converted to electric signals, which in turn are displayed on a display unit such as a television. In this case, however, a long time is required for taking the original still images. Particularly when a line sensor is employed, it is necessary to scan each frame for taking the still images with a considerably long time. Thus, the time for still image reproduction is lengthened by such a taking operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,924 discloses an apparatus for reading information corresponding to each still image and deciding a reproducing method such as zooming on the basis of the information. In such an apparatus, however, it is necessary to previously read information corresponding to each still image, and hence the reproducing time is lengthened by such an operation.
While U. S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,406, 4,603,966 and the like also disclose film video players, none of these Patents discloses a structure which can reduce the time for reproducing still images recorded in a film.
An object of the present invention is to provide a still image reproducing apparatus which can save the time for reproducing the images.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, the still image reproducing apparatus according to the present invention has a determination unit for determining whether or not still image data are currently being reproduced, and a control unit for controlling the apparatus to take another still image if the still image data are currently being reproduced. A second still image is taken during reproduction of a first still image on a screen, whereby it is possible to reproduce the second still image immediately after reproduction of the first still image is completed.
In another aspect of the present invention, the still image reproducing apparatus includes a determination unit for determining whether or not still image data are currently being reproduced, and a control unit for reading information corresponding to another still image when the still image data are currently being reproduced. Information corresponding to a second still image is read during reproduction of a first still image on a screen, whereby the second still image can be controlled on the basis of the read information immediately after reproduction of the first still image is completed.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.